Here is a tip I would like to share that I find extremely useful and believe everyone in the trade should try. Continue reading
Author: specialistplastering
Colour matching
Many of the bespoke finishes we produce are coloured with the addition of natural earth pigments, marble powders, blended with colored or unusual aggregate or simply natural lime. For specific colour reproduction we take things a step further.
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Keystones at St Andrews
Jesmonite demonstration
We had a visitor up at the studio, Tim Sharman, head of technical services at Jesmonite showcasing some of their fantastic range of composite materials and techniques.
Having worked with jesmonite myself for a number of years it was a pleasure to finally meet up with Tim, to hear how their unique product range has grown and to hear some of the diverse architectural, artistic and functional uses for these materials.
cross section showing thin laminate construction of jesmonite window surrounds.
One of the amazing property’s of jesmonite lies in its strength when used as a thin walled laminate.
As little as 6 mm of material will provide the strength of a similar solid cast profile thus reducing weight and material cost. Using quad-axial woven reinforcement and chopped fibre strands complex moulds and patterns can be cast stronger and lighter than before opening up huge possibilities.
The range of finishes is almost endless, coloured, matte, gloss, stone, polished, etched, aged, real metals.. in fact it is endless.
A really good thing was the genuine enthusiasm and product knowledge Tim has and we look forward to working together on future projects
restoring cement details
This enrichment was cast as part of a portland cement facade around in 1850 and is a small part of an ongoing conservation project.
To replace the missing detail I will need to remodel a small section of the original detail , before taking several rubber moulds to form a finished master for the cement casting.
Exterior mouldings
We produced and fitted these sandstone composite window surrounds and window sills to enhance the exterior of this Wirral home
Running arches in situ
These large arched window mouldings were ran in situ along with the inner reveals and returns.We ran 10 top windows,3 lower windows and small sections on a bench for repairs. Continue reading
Colour matched mouldings
This Moroccan look washroom was completed by milesnegusfancey.com and myself in 2015, we matched the colour of the hand made floor tiles and created a bespoke Japanese shikkui plaster finish for the walls, ceilings and counter, to finish off we cast and fitted coloured stone skirting detail to designers requirments.
Welcome to my blog
I have been plastering since the age of 15 so I have just over 23 years of experience in the building trade. I consider plasterwork to be a form of art and have studied, experimented, discovered and learnt as much as possible about the history and development of all forms of plasterwork from around the world.
I am very fortunate to have worked with some amazingly talented craftsmen and women, from various trades who have helped me to develop my own skills.
I plan to add blog posts and articles to this site from the images I have taken over the last 20 years and talk about work I have done as well as work from other guest artisans, tips and tricks, projects and any other useful bits of information.
Dave Lawton
Oak beam
15 years ago I was asked to create these imitation oak beams to hide a large steel RSJ and some pipework.
This was my first attempt at hand modelling and it was mainly carved out of ordinary gypsum plaster over layers of plasterboard and bonding. Many people did think it was real wood and commented how well it blended into the small cottage kitchen